Women in 30s should 'freeze eggs'

9th September 2006

A fertility expert has said that women should freeze their eggs in their early thirties in order to ensure that they will be able to conceive in their 40s.

Dr Gillian Lockwood from Midland Fertility Services said that there are increased instances of fertility problems because of the increasing age at which women were choosing to start a family. Women who try to conceive in their 40s risked being unable to conceive or giving birth to an unhealthy baby. She said that these problems could be avoided by using frozen eggs from earlier on in life rather than the "time-expired" eggs of a 40-year-old.

The age at which women are having babies is increasing, with more pregnancies now occurring to women in their 30s than to women in their 20s. There is a higher chance of miscarriage and of having a baby with Down's syndrome with increasing maternal age.

Over 30 of the 84 clinics in the UK have a licence from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority allowing them to freeze eggs, although just 10 are believed to do so.

Critics from the group Comment on Reproductive Ethics said that it was 'an absurd solution for society's problems'. However Dr Lockwood stressed "The last thing I want to do is to encourage any young woman who wants to be a mother and is in a position to do so from starting a family because she thinks technology will save her", but added that "I think it's important that they know this technology is available."

A spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists agreed that women should be aware of all options, but having babies earlier remained the best.